Saugus girls pull a (close) number on the competition
Centurions win a thriller, posting faster performance
than U.S. #2 CdM
13,901 finishers across 96 HS races comprise
nation's largest meet in 2006
By Rich Gonzalez
DyeStat/DyeStatCal
WALNUT
-- Competing amid the heat of competition and the heat produced by the
beating sun above, Saturday's Girls Large Schools Team Sweepstakes figured
to serve as a wake-up call to any less-than-sharp team heading into
postseason. Unlike last year, though, this was one wake-up call that
Keri Molt would not miss.
Molt's alertness, both in getting out
of bed (she sat out last year's race due to not waking up in time to
make the team bus) and in advancing to good position along three challenging
hills, reaped major dividends as the Centurions emerged victorious in
a thrilling four-team battle in the featured girls race of the day at
the 59th Annual Mt. SAC Invitational.
Attention Corona del Mar girls team:
This is your wake-up call.
Saugus, ranked second in this week's
NTN California Region girls' Top 10, scored 100 points to edge out third-ranked
Torrey Pines and eighth-ranked Buchanan, which tied at 103. Torrey Pines
officially was declared the runner-up team based on a faster 6th-runner
tiebreaker. Sandra Day O'Connor School of Arizona rose to the challenge
on the big stage to place fourth with 119.
Saugus' showing was not only second-fastest
of the day (93:39, 18 seconds behind Buchanan) but also of the meet,
exactly one minute quicker than CdM's showing in winning the Division
III Sweepstakes race on Friday. The Centurions also had faster times
than Corona del Mar at the #'s 2, 3, and 4 scoring positions. The Sea
Kings had entered the weekend ranked as the #2 in the nation, according
to The Harrier's Cross-Country Report, but current U.S. #1 Hilton of
New York lost last weekend, with no new national poll released since.
So could Saugus actually be the nation's
top team? That's plenty of heavy speculation and a lot of "what
if's", but so long as the Centurions continue responding as they
did over the weekend, they at least earn serious consideration in the
discussion.
In a deep race where
every possible point figured to be precious, Centurions leader Shannon
Murakami led the attack once more, but could not match the blistering
pace set by All-Americans Marie Lawrence of Nevada and Lauren Saylor
of Central California's Buchanan High. Lawrence, in perhaps her most
impressive run to date, clocked 16:50. Saylor, who returned to the national
elite with this weekend's run, cajoled enough strenfth to place second
in 17:10, with Murakami a distant third in 17:34.
But the key difference was what played
out behind the frontrunners, with Saugus placing 15th and 16th at the
2-3 positions, setting up Molt's heroics.
Usually the team's # 5 scorer with a
gap to its first four, Molt was the team savior by placing 19th in the
race, a big 28 spots of the team's usual # 4 finisher, Brianna Jauregui.
Saugus coach Rene Paragas termed Molt's breakthrough as key in a 13-team
field that included a dozen squads either currently or previously ranked
in their respective states.
"If (the unofficial quick-score results)
hold up, she saved us," said Paragas in the minutes after the race.
Not a bad showing from a girl who missed this
race last year in what would have been her lifetime debut on the course.
"To be honest, I didn't wake up in time
(for this meet last year)," an embarrassed Molt sheepishly grinned.
"(The bus) left at 4:30 in the morning and my dad was like "I'm
so sorry.' ...He woke me up at 7."
She blew past several runners (including Jauregui)
in the final 1.9 miles to finish in 18:54. By contrast, she ran a previous
lifetime-best 19:40 here at last year's prelims.
"I really like hills, so this is kind of one
of my courses," Molt shared. "I was nervous beforehand, so
Shannon and Katie were like, 'Relax, it's going to be okay.' That made
me feel good and I just wanted to go out there and do my best."
Individually, Lawrence achieved the top time
of the meet, traversing Mt. SAC's storied hills in 16:50 for the 2.91-mile
layout during the same Girls Team Sweepstakes race. Lawrence's effort
came as temperatures crept into the mid-70s my mid-morning. High temperatures
topped out at 87 degrees during the early afternoon as 13,901 runners
successfully completed the course in the two-day extravaganza.
Official
Race Splits for the Leaders in Saturday's Sweepstakes Races
(by Mike Kennedy) |
| Division |
One
Mile |
Cross-Over |
Two-Mile |
Reservoir
Hill |
Finish |
Outcome |
| Boys SuperSweeps |
4:42 |
7:53 |
9:53 |
12:23 |
14:35 |
Won by Chad Hall |
| Boys Team Sweeps |
4:47 |
8:04 |
10:06 |
12:40 |
15:02 |
Won by Kent Morikawa |
| Boys Individual Sweeps |
4:47 |
8:16 |
10:17 |
12:56 |
15:14 |
Won by Diego Estrada |
| Girls Team Sweeps |
5:26 |
9:04 |
11:16 |
14:15 |
16:50 |
Won by Marie Lawrence |
| Girls Individual Sweeps |
5:20 |
9:12 |
11:29 |
14:35 |
17:12 |
Won by Jordan Hasay |
The FootLocker nationals
runner-up in each of the last three years, Lawrence had stated during
her junior year that she'd rather win nationals as a senior rather than
a junior, no doubt seeing past underclass national champions not fare
as well as seniors. She discounted Saturday's performance as more of
a steppingstone to the big races ahead, but still handled the heat and
the competition well. She left Walnut for the Pacific Northwest shortly
after the meet, reportedly to make a college visitation.
Sophomore sensation Jordan Hasay of Mission
College Prep in Central California did not have the fastest time, but
don't let that fool you. Her 17:12 effort in winning the Girls Large
Schools Individual Sweepstakes race was third-fastest of the weekend
and she seemingly recovered quite well soon after reaching the finish
chute.
Hasay, who came out quickly to reach
the mile mark in 5:20 (compared to 5:26 for Lawrence and the lead pack
in the Tea, Sweeps race), won by 13 seconds over a pair of quick-rising
Southern California juniors on the national landscape -- Rancho Buena
Vista's Ellie Keene (17:25) and La Mirada's Stephanie Felix (17:27).
It appears this was Hasay's third race
of the season, a very conservative calendar while conserving for the
many big meets ahead. Hasay had upped her mileage this summer and appears
to be the one to beat yet again, although Colorado's Katie Vanatta and
Tennessee's Kathie Kroeger are also enjoying major success this fall.
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